Chapter 733 - 576: Golden Core Stage 3
Five years later.
In the Gourd World, Ji An sat cross-legged under the Gathering Essence Tree. The spiritual energy vortex above his head surged into his body with his breath, rushing rapidly through the Immortal Veins.
With the operation of the cultivation technique, the spiritual energy quickly transformed into liquid form.
The vein patterns on the surface of the Five Elements Divine Mansion glowed brilliantly. The surface of the Kidney Water Mansion displayed changing cloud patterns, akin to satellite cloud images, constantly transforming.
The vein patterns of the Liver Wood Mansion were of various vine designs, shifting from vibrant green to dark green, then to a withered yellow, resembling the dry grass of winter.
Afterwards, out of the dry desolation, vibrant green blossomed, echoing the cycle of life of the spirit plants.
The surface of the Heart Fire Mansion displayed golden flame patterns in various styles, constantly pulsating.
The main lines of the Spleen Earth Mansion’s vein patterns were several closed frames, resembling cracks on parched earth, while other areas were drawn with dune-like soft lines, conveying a sense of antiquity and weight.
The vein patterns of the Lung’s Golden Mansion were unique, like marks carved by knife and axe, exuding a sharp and hard aura.
The liquefied spiritual energy made a circuit through the Five Elements Divine Mansion, ultimately completing crystallization.
In the Lower Dantian, the Primordial Life Fire burned vigorously, illuminating the area brightly.
At the initial breakthrough into the Golden Core, its color was light gold, but now it was a pure golden color, the glow gentle and radiating a strong life force.
The Primordial Life Fire is the manifestation of all of one’s essence qi, which can be understood as the "life" aspect in the dual cultivation of life and spirit from a past life, referring to everything that truly exists such as body, life, and energy.
Amidst the golden glow, the three-colored flames of the Cyan Lotus Heart-Burning Fire were somewhat overshadowed, with its halo range noticeably compressed.
Tiny snow-like crystals of magical power fell, with the Stone Turtle taking half into its mouth.
The brilliance flickered across its shell, and a satisfied expression showed in its half-closed eyes.
The other half of the magical power crystals fell into the Primordial Life Fire, making the golden flames even more vigorous.
In the Chest Acupoint, the Golden Core hovered, spinning clockwise. The gathering magical power crystals were quickly captured by the Golden Core, drawn by an invisible force.
Like water drops falling into a lake, they were absorbed in the blink of an eye.
The longer the cultivation, the more profound the realm became, and Ji An’s reverence for the Dao only increased.
The Lower Dantian Ancestral Acupoint and the Middle Dantian Heart Acupoint were originally ephemeral places.
They have practical functions; cultivators can sense their existence, yet they are invisible, imperceptible to the naked eye, observable only through introspection with Divine Sense.
These invisible places harbor their own universes, capable of holding tangible objects.
The Stone Turtle, three magical treasures, all are located in the Lower Dantian, while the Golden Core is also tangible, which cultivators can expel from the body using cultivation techniques.
Yet, even knowing the Golden Core is hard to damage, cultivators treasure it dearly and don’t refine inner cores to attack their foes like the Demon Beasts.
Ji An’s curiosity about future cultivation increased, knowing that breaking through to the Nascent Soul requires opening the Upper Dantian’s Mysterious Acupoint, making the Dao body increasingly resemble a little cosmos.
He calmed his scattered mind, becoming fully concentrated once again.
Suddenly, the speed of the Five Elements Reincarnation Scripture notably accelerated, and Ji An felt a roaring in his eardrums.
The speed of the Golden Core’s rotation also increased, and he instinctively opened his mouth to inhale, causing the spiritual energy vortex above to abruptly halve.
At this moment, the Golden Core emitted endless light, like the noonday sun, its volume swelling visibly.
Simultaneously, powerful spiritual pressure expanded outward from Ji An’s body, like a bomb detonated from an airplane mid-flight, with his body as the center, sending a wave of dust three stories high spreading out.
If someone watched from above, they would see a noticeable belt of yellow earth rapidly breaking apart, like water marks rapidly spreading.
After inhaling, Ji An instinctively exhaled, at this point gathering powerful spiritual pressure within, causing him to unleash a long and mighty roar.
The majestic roar echoed through every corner of the Little World, surpassing the spiritual pressure of ordinary third-layer Golden Core cultivators, surging towards the sky.
In an instant, the once-quiet Little World became clamorous.
During his cultivation, all beast tamers and magical treasures knew to maintain silence.
The thick roar of the Earth Qilin, the triumphant dragon chant of the Wood Cyan Dragon, the high-pitched cry of the Fire Phoenix, along with the bear’s roar, eagle’s cry, and deer’s call became the background sound.
Golden Fur leaped onto a treetop, Lan Bei surfaced from the pond’s mud, and the three magical treasures and several beast tamers could sense their master becoming more powerful.
A moment later, they all gathered in the center of the Little World.
The roar lingered long, with echoes resounding, as Ji An fully released the joy in his heart.
Breaking through the second layer of the Golden Core took him nearly fifty years, but reaching the third layer required only twenty.
With his cultivation level improved, his speed of refining spiritual energy would accelerate once more, enhancing his body’s self-purification ability. He could then ingest pills more frequently.
During the Chao Origin Stage, cultivators complete the initial comprehension of the Power of the Five Elements, allowing them to focus more efficiently on refining essence and enhancing cultivation at the Golden Core Stage.
To break through to the mid-stage Golden Core, he needed to accumulate more magical power, but with increased cultivation efficiency and adequate supply of pills, the time spent wouldn’t be much longer than at the second-layer Golden Core.
Ji An took out several Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Fruits from the Grotto Void Stone to feed the spirit beasts, patting each of their foreheads:
"Disperse now."
He gave them the Top-Grade Spirit Fruits because their level made Tier Three Spirit Fruits wasteful.
The spiritual energy in Tier Three Spirit Fruits is richer and more vibrant, dissipating before cyan deer and others can refine it.
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Golden Fur’s muscles were now knotted and no longer as adorable as when young, instead, its face had a ferocious look.
Ji An often thought, this was the price of growing up.
Although its appearance had declined, Golden Fur had become increasingly stronger; demon beasts that had broken through to the Chao Origin Stage were no longer opponents for this Spirit-Seeking Rat.
The beast companions gently touched their heads to their master and then each dispersed.
The magical treasures transformed into their original forms and, like swallows returning to a forest, flew back into Ji An’s body, entering the embrace of the Primordial Life Fire within the Lower Dantian.
Now he felt much more at ease than before; nurturing three items simultaneously was no longer a burden and he could completely manage it.
With progress in cultivation, of course, he had to reward himself, so Ji An flew on a cloud to the edge of the pond, where he instructed the Cyan Water Turtle, who had just arrived:
"Catch a Treasure Dragon Fish at the late-stage Foundation Establishment tier and also catch a Red Grouper."
The Cyan Water Turtle was still at the Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment level, making it difficult to catch stronger Spirit Fish, additionally, Treasure Dragon Fish at the Chao Origin Stage were not abundant.
Lan Bei let out a low growl and entered the water; its clumsy body seemed to become agile, its limbs elegantly stirring the pond water, while the carapace, resembling crystallized cold ice, rippled with a dreamy color.
Soon, it surfaced, holding a Treasure Dragon Fish in its mouth.
With a swift toss of its head, the Spirit Fish was flung to the shore.
Ji An skillfully used the Object Control Technique to bring the Spirit Fish to his side, releasing a Spirit Roar.
Not wanting the Spirit Fish to suffer more, he launched an attack with a powerful Spirit Soul power comparable to a Middle to Late-stage Golden Core cultivator, instantly dispersing the Spirit Fish’s consciousness into oblivion.
After gutting and scaling the fish, he, like a capable fishmonger, managed it within a few breaths.
The fish head was chopped off to make soup, the body steamed, and the tail cured and hung to dry for future stewed fish tail dishes.
Lan Bei didn’t keep him waiting long and soon caught another Red Grouper over three feet long.
This fish was to be barbecued, roasted with White Jade Honey for the best flavor.
Proficiently gutting and scaling, he split the fish in half, marinating it with seasonings.
Having prepared the fish, Ji An cooked some fava beans and began searching for vegetables in the Spirit Field to pair with the wine.
This time he drank a lower-grade Tier Three Spiritual Peach Wine, with a flavor like Fire Spirit Qi in a tide-like flow.
...
The next day, Ji An cloud-surfed to the Immortal City and entered the Certification Association.
"Qing Feng Fellow Daoist, here are the Purifying Talismans, please check the count."
In recent years, due to the scarcity of materials, whether refining elixirs or drawing talismans, the tasks he could receive were limited.
Although he was outstanding, the association also needed to care for other cultivators, so they couldn’t assign all the tasks to him.
No matter how strong he was, he was just one person and couldn’t complete all the tasks.
Master Qingfeng laughed heartily a few times and said, "Fellow Daoist’s efficiency has never disappointed. As expected, you remain the first cultivator to submit the tasks.
Sit down, let’s talk while I check the quality and quantity of the talismans."
A moment later, he nodded in satisfaction and said, "A total of eight hundred and fifty Purifying Talismans, of which four hundred and fifty are of top grade, and four hundred are of middle grade.
You received a thousand sets of talisman materials, with a success rate requirement of forty percent, giving an excess of four hundred and fifty top-grade talismans.
According to the agreement, the purchase price of each top-grade talisman is three hundred and twenty Spirit Stones, requiring a payment of one hundred and forty-four thousand Spirit Stones, equivalent to ten top-grade Spirit Stones and eight middle-grade Spirit Stones.
Additionally, you can earn five thousand Contribution Points."
Due to the increasing demand, the purchase price of top-grade Purifying Talismans had risen by twenty Spirit Stones compared to a few years ago.
Ji An took out a Certification Jade Token and said with a smile, "Quickly transfer the Contribution Points, I want to exchange for the Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talisman!"
With these five thousand points, his Contribution Points in the Jade Token were finally about to break through the one hundred thousand-point mark, much later than he had expected.
He originally thought he could accumulate this many Contribution Points in one or two years, but he didn’t expect a shortage of talisman-making materials to greatly delay his speed in acquiring Contribution Points.
"Haha, I know you’ve been waiting for this day a long time."
Master Qingfeng took the Jade Token and operated it on the Spirit Disc, "Currently, you have one hundred and three thousand two hundred Contribution Points. Please wait a moment, I’ll go fetch the Jade Slip for the Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talisman."
He put away the talismans, took out a sufficient number of Spirit Stones, placed them on the desk, and then quickly left.
A moment later, he returned to the room, handing over a pale gold Jade Slip:
"This is the method for drawing the talisman, please review it, Fellow Daoist."
Ji An took the Jade Slip, eagerly placing it on his forehead, and extended his divine sense to read the information within.
Drawing Tier Three Thunder Talismans was much more complex than he anticipated, with the inheritance recording numerous drawing details and techniques.
Thunder Talismans were incredibly powerful, demanding higher standards for talisman-making materials, making it almost impossible to use Talisman Paper and Cinnabar to draw a top-grade talisman.